Oscar! Oscar! Oscar! Not many surprises, but far from boring
Gratuitous photo of Best Actor nominee George Clooney. Image by Getty Images via Daylife
The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning — and I’d say it’s the day when makeup artists really earn their keep (especially in HD), but since it was Anne Hathaway with her immortally perfect skin (yes, I’m jealous) joining Academy President Tom Sherak at the announcement, they probably didn’t have that hard a day.
James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” scored big with nine nominations each — and unless my film history is wrong (someone please correct me if it is), this marks the first time that ex-spouses are going head-to-head in the Best Director and Best Picture category. It’s doubly cool that they get along and publicly support one another’s work. Also interesting to note that while “Avatar” shone in the technical awards, it didn’t score any acting noms (unlike “Titanic,” where Kkate Winslet and Gloria Stuart were nominated), but “The Hurt Locker” did, with Jeremy Renner getting the nod for Best Actor.
Quentin Tarantino’s incredibly satisfying Nazi revenge “Inglourious Basterds” came up with eight nominations, and Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” scored six nominations.
Among the nominees:
Best Picture: “Avatar”; “The Blind Side”; “District 9″; “An Education”; “The Hurt Locker”; “Inglourious Basterds”; “Precious”; “A Serious Man”; “Up’; and “Up in the Air”
Best Director: James Cameron, “Avatar”; Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”; Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”; Lee Daniels, “Precious”; Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”; George Clooney, “Up in the Air”; Colin Firth, “A Single Man”; Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”; Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”; Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”; Carey Mulligan, “An Education”; Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”; Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, “Invictus”; Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”; Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”; Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”; Christop Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Nine”; Very Farmiga, “Up in the Air”; Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”; Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”; Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Animated Feature: “Coraline”; “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; “The Princess and the Frog”; “The Secret of Kells”; “Up”
Best Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”; Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter (Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy), “Up”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Neil Blomkamp and Teri Tatchell, “District 9″; Nick Hornby, “An Education”; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, “In the Loop”; Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Now the handicapping really begins in earnest, even though the campaigns have been going on for a while. Definitely some tough categories here — Sandra Bullock’s on a hot streak, but I wonder if a groundswell for Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious” will threaten to clip her in the end zone (yeah, I can come up with a sports metaphor when I need to). Sidibe’s performance in the film, plus her absolute adorableness in her public appearances make her a contender without question. Though if Carey Mulligan came away triumphant because of a split vote, I wouldn’t be sad — she was amazing in “An Education.”
I’m not one for offering picks — my record in Oscar pools isn’t one to be proud of — I think it could be Jeff Bridges’ year for his phenomenal turn in “Crazy Heart.” “Up in the Air” could have peaked too early with its onslaught of critics awards at the end of 2009. But everyone loves a Clooney (see above), and “Crazy Heart” might not yet have gotten a wide enough audience.
Surprising: Beyond art direction, costume, and makeup, no recognition for “The Young Victoria.” And how exciting that Nick Hornby scored a nomination for his — first — screenplay for “An Education.” And no acting nod for Robert Downey Jr. in “Sherlock Holmes.”
Yesterday my True/Slant colleague Jeremy Helligar offered up his Oscar predictions (which turned out to be eerily prescient). What do you think? Did anyone get the shaft? Do you think Oscar’s got some upsets up its sleeve this year?
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I agree! Not many surprises this year but definitely not boring either. I’m suprised to see The Blind Side up for Best Picture, but it makes sense. The Academy supposedly expanded the field to 10 in order to include more popular choices, thus boosting ratings. Having both Avatar and The Blind Side in the mix will help do that. I’m just glad that Invictus didn’t get a nomination for Best Picture and that Clint Eastwood was snubbed for the second year in a row (though I think he deserved to squeak in last year for Gran Torino, at least in best actor). The biggest surprise is probably Maggie Gyllenhaal’s nomination. Neither her performance nor the film went over so well with a lot of critics (though everyone praised Jeff Bridges), but she’s been overlooked in past years for Secretary and Sherrbaby, so maybe this is her make-up Oscar nomination. What does her poor husband, Peter Sarsgaard, have to do to get nominated, though? Snubbed again, and for a Best Picture nominee! I guess the Academy preferred Matt Damon to Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina in An Eduation. Go figure!
I really like your points about Maggie Gyllenhaal (I liked her performance a lot) and Peter Sarsgaard (who I have a ridiculous crush on) — I wonder if the Academy doesn’t quite know what to do with him yet. Close your eyes and you hear John Malkovich, which is always a little unsettling, but he’s a hugely talented guy. I was shocked that Emily Blunt wasn’t in the mix, though thrilled that Carey Mulligan was. And what’s up with “Nine”? That cast of characters and only one acting nomination — hello, Bronx cheer from the Academy. I’d be too embarrassed to get into how many of the movies of recent years I *haven’t* seen. But part of me thinks the Academy largely got it right. Reuters did a great look at the 10 Best Picture nominees of 1939 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020104036.html) — this year is nowhere close, but I like the expanded list anyway.
By the way, have you seen the grumbling about the lack of inclusion of “The Hangover”? As if.
In response to another comment. See in context »It is kind of criminal that Malkovich only has been nominated twice — and for supporting roles! What about Dangerous Liaisons? Eventually, they will have to recognize Peter Sarsgaard. Maybe next time. I thought the fifth best actress slot was a toss up between Helen Mirren and Emily Blunt. I thought Emily was great in her film, but it’s also a familiar performance. I haven’t seen The Last Station yet, but Helen Mirren looks magnificent in all the clips. Too bad she already won (undeservedly) for The Queen, or I might be rooting for her this year. I thought The Hangover might sneak in, but The Blind Side is definitely a better fit for the blockbuster slot. I think Sandra Bullock should have her speech prepared!
In response to another comment. See in context »I saw about seven of the ten noms and I’m okay with those being in there. Dunno about The Blind Side. Surely Invictus could have been in there if it had good enough acting performances to get double nods there. Or how about Moon, which got no love at all. Shameful because Sam Rockwell killed in it.
I’ll be happy so long as Avatar does not beat out The Hurt Locker or Up In The Air. I’ve already seen one overblown Cameron flick beat out something far superior to it back when Titanic beat out L.A. Confidential, I’d rather not see it happen again.